


Magnet

by nbarker1990



Category: The Voice (US) RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-24 13:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8374252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nbarker1990/pseuds/nbarker1990
Summary: He didn't repel. And it wasn't a merely neutral response, either. And even though maybe that was wrong, it felt more right than almost anything else had in a long time.





	

His touch shouldn’t have registered in a different way than Pharrell’s had. Maybe she would have been able to brush it off as a natural result of unfamiliarity, except that Adam wasn’t an old friend either, and when _he_ had folded her into a welcoming hug, it had felt like Todd or Adrian or some other old friend or family member. Blake, on the other hand? If she’d been anyone else, anyone not in a constant (albeit one-sided) battle to make her marriage the best it could be, she maybe would’ve called the moment she’d first touched Blake ‘momentous’.

 

It was the knowledge that his hands were large, that his chest was broad, that his eyes were a startling shade of blue. It was a dozen things she generally didn’t notice about men other than Gavin, really, and it was a dozen reasons to keep her distance. It wasn’t that she was concerned that she’d be tempted to stray, not even close. But she’d promised herself something while lying in the hospital bed, cradling her baby boy for the first time, promised that she would try _harder_ this time.

 

“You still with us?” came the drawl from just behind her, a jovial lilt and a warmth in Blake’s voice that made tears prick in her eyes. In her more selfish, petty moments during the past week, she’d caught herself thinking that maybe it wasn’t fair that all she got was coldness and scorn when men like this had been put into her life as well. Sure, her new colleague seemed to have some negative qualities (she’d made an actual list a few evenings ago) but… Miranda was pretty lucky.

 

“Yeah, still here,” she said, turning around and crossing her arms as she looked up at Blake. They were on a break from filming and she’d needed away from the bright lights and the noise of the audience, needed a cuddle from Apollo and the sound of her husband’s voice. Gavin, as usual, hadn’t picked up, and her baby had been restless and crying. So yeah, that hadn’t exactly helped. “P send you to check on me, did he?”

 

Blake seemed momentarily taken aback by the bitterness in her voice but, honestly, if there was a chance they could ever become something like friends, it was better he know this about her now, that her natural sunny optimism (it HAD felt natural, she was sure of it) kept getting beaten down by resentment and unhappiness.

 

His arms were immediately around her, firm and secure and holding her so tight that she was pretty sure she couldn’t have escaped even if she wanted to. And she didn’t. “I’m so sorry,” she muttered into his shirt. “Just forget this happened, okay. I’m normally not…”

 

“I’ve been told by women far wiser than me that the best thing to do right now is not to say anything, that I’m likely to put my foot in it if I try and offer advice or excuses.” Ducking her head, her nose almost against the pocket of his shirt, she let herself chuckle. “Ah, now that’s better. That’s a sound I like.”

 

“My laugh?” Gwen said hesitantly, trying to ignore the increasing desire to let her fingers find purchase on his lower back, to hold him as close to her as possible.

 

“Your laugh is sunshine.”

 

Startled, she looked right up at her colleague’s face, needing to see if… Oh. Yeah. He… Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat, Gwen let herself just act, do the damned thing she’d been wanting to do since the first time she’d seen Blake, awkwardly pressed into the corner of the couch, all long limbs and mussed hair. Her fingertips felt almost sparky as she reached for his face, a slow slide along his jawline (more defined than she’d assumed) until her palms felt the scratch of his graying beard beneath their softness.

 

“Gwen…” His lips quirked in a small, uncertain smile. “What are - ”

 

She pressed her fingers to his mouth to hush him, felt like she was watching a movie in which she was starring when he blinked furiously and then licked his lips, his tongue wet against her skin for just a second before he pulled away. It felt colder. Immediately.

 

“I’m married,” Blake stated almost blankly. Like she didn’t know. “So are you.”

 

“I’m not suggesting - ”

 

“God, no.”

 

“Right. Glad that’s agreed on.”

 

“I just should get back out there. You too. Pretty sure Adam’s going to be super jealous, though,” he added, chuckling nervously.

 

“He always is when people other than him get to be close to you,” Gwen joked, trying to give him permission to forget everything, to make it less than what it had ended up being. Because Christ, that hadn’t been the intention; she still wanted his friendship. Her instincts couldn’t always be trusted (how many times had she been burned by Gavin’s secrecy and lies before acknowledging that, after all), but she was certain this was the right thing, that having him in her life would be a GOOD thing.

 

“I’m glad you’re on the show,” Blake finally said, meeting her eyes again, his darker and more shuttered than they’d been in the moments before she’d reached for him. “Really glad.”

 

“Meant to be, I guess. Who knew.”

 

His hand reached for hers almost as if he couldn’t stop himself, hanging suspended in the air between their bodies. Smiling, she let herself close the gap, letting her palm meet his, entwining their fingers awkwardly and lowering their joined hands. She could feel his stomach against her knuckles, softer than her husband’s, than her's. And yet.

 

“They can wait another minute.”


End file.
